Written by Tom Bedding
With the record going to number one and gaining fans that included some high profile names, The Snuts have been propelled into the limelight that is rare for a new indie outfit these days. It seemed like there were a lot of people that were expecting an impressive commercial response since the bands early days, which has led to ‘W.L’. being packaged up in the best possible way to enable its full potential.
The gentle opening of ‘Top Deck’ still has a lot of assurance and includes an impressive melody, you feel connected to the band straight off the bat with this interesting first song. An obvious aspect of ‘W.L.’ is the production, which reinforces how confident people around the band were, on the potential success of the Scottish outfit. So naturally, the vocals, guitars and strings are pristine and very clean on ’Top Deck’, allowing it to be an opener that does not feel too timid or undercooked, when compared to the stomping nature of the rest of the album.
‘Always’ includes a fuzzy guitar riff that is similar to The Strokes but the overall package of the track, goes somewhere else that is underwhelming. The urgency we hear from the rhythm guitar and drums is incredibly infectious don’t get me wrong, however we are not given anything from the melody and bass line that matches with the Strokes esq riff.
What is very enjoyable about the album is how it impressively touches base on every quarter of indie and guitar music, with ‘Juan Belmonte’ being a big nod to The Black Keys, which does occur a fair bit on ‘W.L.’. Now for the most part, The Snuts do feel like their own band and especially on their Arctic Monkeys ode, ‘All Your Friends’, which combines the passion of the first two records and the moodiness of ‘Suck It and See’. However on ‘Juan…’, the overall result is a bit stingy and leaves you wanting to listen to The Black Keys to get over the flat nature of the track.
Despite the slight hiccups on the LP, The Snuts make you turn your head and want to listen to what they have to offer and what they want to achieve. For instance, hearing in an interview that they are unafraid of wanting to write the best possible songs, no matter the style, even if it hits the spot that so many guitar bands over the last 15 years feel too insecure to go near.
‘Somebody Loves You’ is an incredible single and embodies that frame of a mind, with it also being a summer hit!!! The infectiousness of its rhythm and melody is joyous and the way the Scottish group turn into this innocent sounding pop-rock band is commendable. ‘Somebody To Love’ is unafraid in capturing the hearts of many and is backed up by some impressive songwriting, which showcases that these bunch of lads are truly onto something.
If you have been left snoozing over Catfish and The Bottlemen running their sound into the ground, then the awesome ‘Glasgow’, will help you get out of that depression. We are given an indie rock tune that will leave you screaming it out and yearning for the festival season again; the moment we hear ‘Ill always love the way that you say Glasgow’ feels already iconic and a belting moment for us all. The riff here is also amazing in the chorus and the song as a whole, feels both familiar with its delivery but still having an ambition to be as good as it can possibly be.
‘Won’t you just please remind me of that look you gave when I said, That you are my world’ rings out beautifully on the popular love song, ‘No Place I’d Rather Be’. The chord progression is lovely and the instrumentation shines so well with the amazing production, with the arena rock guitars and passionate bass line standing out. You can hear the crowd sining this song back to the band already, which ultimately is the aim for a song of this nature.
The indiennnnesss found in ‘Maybe California’ captured the imagination of so many, due to the chorus being insanely playful with its ‘oohs’ and cool guitar line. Annoyingly, it does feel undercooked (not down to the production) and leaves a taste of wanting to have something more flavoursome when its finished.
Then we have the fun on ‘Don’t Forget (I Punk), that probably won’t engage the fans of the post-punk scene that is about right now but its an enjoyable shit on the LP. The Blur like spin on ‘punk’ on this track, feels more authentic than others who dip their toe into the genre (not naming any names…blud).
Blues rock does comes back on ‘Coffee & Cigarettes’, with its execution grabbing you and taking you for an American spin. Next is a certain FIFA anthem called ’Elephants’, where the production elevates the ideas of the track, to a higher place for sure. Its bass line takes centre stage which I do really like, yet there is something about it that leaves me thinking that I won’t be coming back to listen to the song again?
Nevertheless, ‘W.L.’ by The Snuts does finish strongly with ‘Sing For Your Supper, a throwback to early 00’s arena rock that could fit the likes of Snow Patrol and even One Republic at one point. It really takes the tone of the record to an emotional place with the melody and guitar tones, concluding this ready made indie success in a tremendous way.
W.L. by The Snuts can be streamed and also bought at your local record store!
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